Navigating the Turbulence of this Crazy World

LET THE KILLING BEGIN…

I haven’t paid a lot of attention to this website over the last few months nor have I done very much writing, either. Periodically I’ve checked in to read other bloggers articles or to touch base with followers of the Intellectual Plane. Despite the lack of output on my part, the viewership stats for this site have been surprisingly high and I’m proud of that fact. Over the nine months that this website has active, I’m delighted by the level of interest it has generated.

Having said all that, there are many things about the Intellectual Plane that I am unhappy about in terms of both content and format. There is no one specific concern but many – and they all stem from personal circumstances.

A year ago, with no prior planning and no defined destination in mind I embarked on a new chapter in my life. As the months passed, plot-strands of that chapter have coalesced and pointed quite naturally towards the goal of correcting or eliminating those aspects of myself and of my life that have previously made me unhappy. I’m not expecting to reach that goal entirely within my life-time. As Aristotle pointed out, no one should ever achieve all their dreams because if they did so, then there would be nothing left to live for. Basically, I’ve accepted that my life is and always will be a work in progress. And I’m okay with that.

There’s a lot about the world that pisses me off and all those irritations involve human weakness both within me and in others. We live in an age where much of humanity wants to change the world but no one wants to change themselves. Those who are content with the status quo are either in denial or they are blissfully ignorant.

So rather than try to the change the world, I’m going to change myself and hopefully for the better. My only New Year’s resolution is one that I made long before January 1st 2018: To stop giving a shit about things that don’t matter. I take inspiration for this resolution from a number of places including family, friends – even entire countries. Of the last mentioned, consider the island of Singapore. While the rest of the world’s nations are bickering about climate change and whether or not it’s real or man-made – despite the destruction being wrought to farm-land, cities, coastlines and species globally – Singapore is taking action to preserve its society in the face of these real dangers. Don’t believe me? Look it up.

Which brings me back to my own resolution: There’s a lot of noise emanating from the Internet and from other media and I am as much to blame for that noise as anyone else. Having said that much of what I see and hear both in the real and on-line world, is reflective of the nonsense contained within the other. I’ve tried and will continue to try to make the Intellectual Plane an open and vibrant garden for readers to peruse. However these days, whenever I look at the Intellectual Plane I see weeds crowding into that space.

These weeds take the form of poorly constructed articles, useless and often incoherent comments from readers on topics that I simply no longer care about (nor indeed cared about much to begin with) in addition (to what is to me at least) a pretty stale photo array. The articles in question have a lot of content but like unripe fruit, they were put up for display before they were fit for human consumption. The website has suffered as a result in my opinion. Just as a garden needs maintenance so too, does the Intellectual Plane. In short, the weeds in this garden need to be rooted out. Over the next few weeks, the site will be completely overhauled and many of the articles will be taken down. This is neither an act of self-censorship nor an effort to appease or appeal to any section of my readership. It is about a quality control, plain and simple. I can do better, therefore I will do better.

Those readers who are reading through content on this site in stages have until the end of January 2018 to read the articles in their current format, after which many of them will be archived off-line.

To those readers who enjoyed specific articles and wish to have a personal copy, I offer you a PDF version that I will send to you via e-mail. All you have to do is make a request through the CONTACT tab and include a relevant e-mail address to where you wish the document forwarded. Be warned though: I reserve discretion over any content disseminated this way, in light of any editorial concerns I have about the article in question.

The re-format of the Intellectual Plane is a small part of a greater resolution to kill off past demons and concerns that could hinder me on my current path. As far as I’m concerned let the killing begin.

On that note, I’d to take this opportunity to thank all those regular readers of the Intellectual Plane for the attention you have given this website. Though I do not believe in any god or goddess, I hope that whatever deity or deities you honour smiles upon you and offers you good fortune this year. And if he or she or they are not so favourable, may your troubles be brief and your heartaches short-lived.